by NASA Goddard Photo and Video
BP reneges on deal to rebuild oyster beds, repair wetlands, Louisiana officials say | NOLA.com
[Via nola.com]
BP has reneged on promises made in November to negotiate early payments to Louisiana to help rebuild oyster beds, repair damaged wetlands and build a fish hatchery to allow the state to respond immediately to the collapse of commercial fisheries in the wake of the BP Gulf oil spill, state officials said Monday.
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See, the state opened up the floodgates along the Mississippi River to keep the oil out, releasing large amount of freshwater to keep oil away from the oyster beds, but killing the oysters in the process.
So it needs millions to restart the oyster populations and BP’s response – there is no evidence any oil hurt the oyster beds.
When they had all those commercials about how they were in it for the long haul etc. they were really saying ‘See you in court.’
BP seems to feel that its role is done and nature will fix everything, even though the Exxon Valdez disaster is still affecting fishing in Prince William Sound.
Yet when barrier islands still need cleanup, with continuing appearance of tar balls from the disaster, BP says they have done all they need to do.
They had talked favorably about it, but it’s just another indication that they’re now going to take the position of saying no to everything and go to court,” [Department of Wildlife & Fisheries director] Barham said.
That’s what large corporations do. Twenty years on from the Exxon Valdez, Exxon has never paid the $5 billion punitive damages, and, due to recent court rulings, will never have to (In 2008, Exxon had annual profits of $40 billion and paid no income tax to the US).
BP looks to be running a similar game. They know people have forgotten after a year and they can simply make the state go to court.
No real consequences for their bad corporate behavior. It’ll be the same thing here and the courts will still be dealing with this in 2030.
A Man With A Ph.D. 
Didn’t whatshisname (Feinberg?) say all claims had been settled? Didn’t Salazar say that BP had done all it needed to do? Where is our government in this mess? Did the administration get paid off or is it just a matter of Louisiana is a Republican State so we don’t need to help it.
I believe these are state claims against BP, not personal. I’m not sure what the Federal government could do here but I am sure we will here about them.
One possible holdup is that BP wants the state to say that not only will it never sue BP but than anyone who ever gets state money (ie contractors) will never sue. I’m not sure that would hold up in court but IANAL.
As for personal claims, I’m not sure where Feinberg said they had all been paid out. He has made final offers to many people but few of them have accepted, apparently due to the conditions BP wants. Since August $3.5 billion has been paid to 170,000 people. 100,000 claims had no evidence.